


Giving a Gift

by supremegreendragon



Category: The Flash (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: 12DaysCF19, Dorks in Love, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, Nervousness, Parental Advice, protective Joe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21861223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supremegreendragon/pseuds/supremegreendragon
Summary: For the 12 Days of ColdflashDay 2 - Gift GivingBarry is worried about something. Joe is going to get to the bottom of it. And what does Leonard Snart have to do with all this?
Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart
Comments: 3
Kudos: 65





	Giving a Gift

The usual bright and cheerful demeanor that Barry exuded on a daily basis had been diminished for the past week. The reason for this change – crippling anxiety.

Christmas used to make him giddy with excitement. Even after his mother’s untimely death and his father’s unjust sentence, Christmas never failed to put a smile on his face. That was thanks to the West family giving him a foundation in which to fill his life full of love, and that had granted him the ability to love in return. 

So, when Joe and Iris West noticed a change in Barry’s behavior, they grew worried. Despite her best attempts to get to the bottom of things, Iris couldn’t find out anything from her foster brother. So, it was up to Joe to figure things out. It was time to fill in the role as a father once again. Not that he minded. As a matter of fact, Barry’s love for him made his paternal instincts sore, even if they weren’t biologically related.

He went into the kitchen where Barry was munching on some Christmas cookies and milk. Who would ever guess this kid was the Flash, thought Joe humorously. The only thing missing in this picture was Barry wearing his old Santa themed pajamas.

“Hey, Joe.”

“Barry,” Joe nodded, grabbing himself a cup of coffee just to look innocent, “Ready for the Christmas season?”

Here Barry tensed up, “Oh. Not yet.”

“That’s unusual. You’re always ready. Remember when I told you that you had to wait until after Halloween to do Christmas shopping?”

“Yeah,” Barry produced a genuine smile at the memory, “This year’s no different. I’ve bought everyone’s present….it’s just.”

Joe saw his opening, “Just…what?”

“Well, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to give one to a certain someone.”

“A certain someone? Who?”

Barry didn’t say anything, but Joe could see the blush on his cheeks. Joe took a swig of his coffee, trying to ease the pain of his growing headache. This boy would be the death of him.

“Who Barry?”

“You don’t know him,” Barry said finally, “But he’s someone special to me. And….he doesn’t know I’m planning on getting him anything.”

There was a long pause. Joe had to repeat Barry’s words in his head to fully understand what he was hearing.

“This is a crush, isn’t it?”

“…..yeah.”

“And you’re sure I don’t know the guy?” Joe pressed.

Barry hesitated at first, looking all around the room, his eyes darting anywhere but Joe. He bit into a Rudolf cookie, munching away at Rudolf’s famous nose.

“I’m sure. He’s someone I met after I became the Flash and well….he’s not anyone you would talk to on a regular basis.”

“Can you at least tell me his name?”

Joe had interrogated people before. He had seen countless times the moment someone was caught in a lie. He knew the way their faces looked when the mask cracked open. That was the face Barry had on now.

“Uh….Charles….” his eyes darted to the cabinet that contained all the cleaners, “Clean.”

Did…..did he really just make up a stupid name like Mr. Clean? It took all of Joe’s willpower not to erupt in laughter. Okay, he would respect Barry’s wishes not to tell him, for now. But if a man had captured Barry’s heart, then Joe was determined to meet him one day. Even if he had to threaten Barry by grounding the 26-year-old to his room.

“And why would it be so hard to give Charles his gift?”

“He doesn’t know I like him. And when we see each other, we don’t have much time to talk…..” Barry conveniently left out the reason why they had no time. Joe didn’t press it.

“Okay, so let me ask this. Do you want him to know you gave him the gift or do you want to go the secret admirer route?”

“Second option.”

The boy was brilliant, but man could he overlook the simplest things. Joe gave him a blank look.

“Well, you are the Flash. You could just swoop in and put it somewhere he would find. It’s not like he’d notice.”

“Joe, you’re a genius.”

  
The police force surrounded the bank with their cars. Taking cover with his crew, Joe had his gun raised, waiting for the crooks to come out at any moment. Joe knew immediately who he was dealing with, for the upstairs windows leaked out a spiderweb of ice. Only one person could do that in this town.

Joe took the megaphone, “Snart! Come out with your hands up. We know you don’t have any hostages.”

After a beat, Captain Cold came out, his gun in his hand. He walked toward them slowly, he and his men who trailed behind him. It was the calm before the storm.

“Guess they were closed for the holidays. We’ll steal from them later,” Snart said coolly.

“It doesn’t work that way. Drop the weapon and put your hands in the air.”

Snart readied his gun. They weren’t leaving without a fight. Before Joe could issue another warning, Snart blast a spray of ice, freezing two police cars into crystalized statues. Joe had to tumble away for fear of being frozen as well. 

A sudden streak of red came over, unarming every crook that was supporting Snart from behind. Snart fired at the streak. His accuracy was getting dangerously better, for Barry grunted in pain. He slowed to a stop, his leg steaming blue from the frosty energy. 

“Sorry, Scarlet. But you don’t get to ruin my fun,” Snart said. He came forward. Joe was about to run over to protect Flash. He worried that Snart was planning on finishing the job. But just as he was about to tackle Cold from behind, the crook tossed something in Barry’s way. Joe raised his gun. Barry held up the item that Snart had given him. It was a Christmas card. Barry opened it up and smiled.

“Aww…thanks, Len.”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Still have to take you to Iron Heights, though.”

“You can try,” Len smirked teasingly.

Meanwhile, Joe couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Why were the two acting like such friends? And why was Barry all red in the face? Joe felt his protective fatherly instincts screaming at him to kill Snart.

Barry jumped to his feet, wincing at the pain. He fought through it. It seemed that Len hadn’t hurt him too much. Barry turned into a human tornado, circling through the crowd as fast as a blur. One by one, the men behind Snart were cuffed by an invisible force. In a blink of an eye, Snart’s gun was pried from him and he was cuffed as well.

Joe looked at Snart, who stared at the new present in his hands. A snow globe with figurines of the Flash and Captain Cold fighting in a blizzard. There was a little bow on top. Joe couldn’t believe his eyes. Barry used his powers to give Snart a gift….

….Did that mean that Snart was…..?

Joe gave Barry a stern look. Barry sheepishly smiled back at him, knowing full well that they would talk about this later. Meanwhile, Len didn’t seem to mind that he had been captured. He was transfixed on the snow globe.

“Ah. You’re sweet, Scarlet,” he said, causing Barry to blush. Joe glared. No no no! He felt like one of those fathers who didn’t want their son dating a bad boy. He grabbed Snart and began dragging him to the police car.

“Come on, Mr. Clean,” he grumbled at Snart. Snart gave Barry a confused look, to which Barry only laugh.

“I’ll explain later. Merry Christmas, Len!”


End file.
